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Thursday, September 22, 2016

I love Greek food!!! I have never been to Greece in my adulthood; my parents took me when I was 1 year old so that doesn't count!! However I went to Cyprus (the Greek side) and boy was the food good or what!! I think part of the reason why I liked it is that it is very close to the food that we are used to. Using olive oil a lot in cooking, using lamb, vegetables, lots of small dishes (appetizers) and the use of Eggplants in many of their dishes. I just adore eggplants and this love relationship didn't start recently. The reason why I am saying this is that I know many people including my husband who didn't like it as a kid but fill in love with it as an adult. For me it was love from the beginning... :)

One of the eggplants dishes I love is Moussaka. In the Middle East we make lots of versions of Moussaka. The dish is so famous in Egypt and it is called "Misa'aeh" and I think its the integration between the Egyptians and the Greeks at a certain time that made the dish one of the most famous in both countries. In Palestine we make the layers of eggplants, ground lamb and tomato sauce but we call it "Munazaleh"; and we don't add the Bachamel layer..a healthier version if I may say. If you are interested in the Munazaleh recipe, you can visit Darna Magazine for a delicious recipe.

Today, I am sharing with you my Moussaka recipe and it is not light. I do fry the eggplants, but you feel free to grill them for a lighter version.

Directions:
- After sprinkling eggplants with salt, leave for 1/2 an hour so all the water will come out, wipe and fry until golden brown.
- In the mean time prepare the sauce by browning the meat then add the onion and cook till soft. Add spices, salt and pepper.
- Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 25 min until sauce is a bit thick.
- Prepare the white sauce by melting the butter, add flour and cook for a couple of min. Add milk, season and whisk until it boils and thickens.
Making the layers"
- In a baking dish line a layer of egg plants, then sauce repeat till you end up with the sauce and add the white sauce and top with cheese.
- Bake at 350 F or 180 C for around 30 min till bubbly with golden color top.
- Serve with bread or rice.

Notes:
- Original Mossaka uses an egg in the white sauce to help thicken and get a smoother sauce, I hate the eggy taste so I don;t use that part.
- You can use a layer of fried Zucchini or potatoes as well if you don't like eggplants only.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Quince!!! I always heard my mom rave about the jam made out of quince...have I ever tasted it?!!Honestly NO till now...its really good. Did I go and bought quince?! NO!!! We have a tree in the garden and every year this tress has tons of quince on it and boy do they go to waste...Last year was actually good as we asked the gardener to take it. This year it seems he already did but left few fruits on the branches. I came from work the other day and found 6 of them on the floor..I am sure they were ripe so I thought its about time I find out what this tastes like. I gathered them and off to the kitchen.

I opened one and smelled it..hmmmm interesting the smell is between an apple and a pear..delicious..

So that jam that my mom told me about was calling me. I called her up and took the recipe and here you go...

Quince easy jamIngredients:
4 quince fruits, washed to remove all the fury part from the out side, grated with peels on. (it will darken quickly in color as you grate it..faster than apples I found).
2 1/2 cups of water
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 1/2 cups of sugar

Optional: You can add a cinnamon stick or a lemon zest to this.

Directions:

In a large pot, add the grated quince and add water. Bring to a boil along with the lemon juice and reduce the heat and let it get softer for 15 minutes.

Add the sugar and bring to a boil again while stirring to dissolve all the sugar. Simmer over low heat until it thickens for about 1 hour. Put in a sterilized jars while hot and close tightly.

Enjoy in your next Mabrosheh recipe or on toast. My friend told me to try it with a pears pie and I sure will soon and share the recipe with you.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

One of the lovely things about Eid is the lovely goodies we bake and make at home to serve guests. Of course as mentioned in the previous post, the king of sweets in Eid is Ma'moul but because you will find it in every home, people do appreciate being served something different as they go from house to house.

After yesterday's post, a request from a follower was for a Rocky Road bar. I couldn't resist as they are so easy to make and I know I will be a hero among children tomorrow when they come to our house.

There are tons of recipes to make rocky road and honestly I love this recipe as it is prepared in a snap and it has peanut butter in it, what not to like!!!

5 cups rice krispies cereal or chopped plain cookies like Graham crackers or Lotus in case you are using cookie butter.

Variation: Feel free to remove a cup of the rice krispies and add chopped peanuts instead.

Directions:

Mix chocolate chips both kinds and melt in the microwave or over a double boiler. Add peanut butter and stir. Add the rest of the ingredients. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and press the mixture inside. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

I seriously need to do something about this hectic schedule, all goes usually according to plan then some how...just some how something slips and all seems to fall apart!!! I mean it is not always that bad but I have to totally admit that after Ramadan things didn't go back to normal again!!! And we are 2 months after...seriously...I need to pull myself together...So as usual I decided to come here and vent it all out before it eats me alive. In case you don't know what I am talking about, it is the fact that I seem to be neglecting this blog since I decided to go back and work full time, have a business, a magazine, a husband and 3 children once of which is 4 years old!!! Yeah...this is currently my life without any social obligations and boy do I have social obligations to my family, my in laws and friends...LIFE IS GOOD!!!! I need to keep my sanity somehow so I really need to vent...so here I am and thank you for baring with me.

And despite the crazy schedule, I am still cooking, taking pictures and the recipes that are waiting to be blogged about just keep piling up...what a pity!!!

So let me stop the rant and get to reality and say I miss you all and miss writing so very much. And I am glad I get to share the fact that I am only human, not a super woman!! I try to be as organized as I can but as I just mentioned, things don't always work the way we want and you know what...It's OK!!! Cut yourself some slack and just move on, tomorrow is a better day and you can start all over.

So what is happening in your kitchen's these days?!!! Fall is approaching, though with the temperature in Amman these days, it doesn't look like fall is coming any time soon. Yet Eid Al Adha is here and we are quite excited, a 10 days off...WOW...wish I was travelling somewhere but I am not and again its OK!!!

Did you make any special sweets for Eid? How about I remind you of some wonderful ones that are just perfect for your guests this Eid...its going to be next Monday...Eid Mubarak everyone.

These are few example of many on this blog, just go to recipes and under cookies I have around 21 recipes which you can choose from. One of which is the basic sugar cookies

If you want a special twist, just do the shape you want, remove a piece from the middle with another cutter, lay the cookie on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, add crushed candy in the middle and bake. Let it cool off on the baking sheet for few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

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Thursday, September 22, 2016

I love Greek food!!! I have never been to Greece in my adulthood; my parents took me when I was 1 year old so that doesn't count!! However I went to Cyprus (the Greek side) and boy was the food good or what!! I think part of the reason why I liked it is that it is very close to the food that we are used to. Using olive oil a lot in cooking, using lamb, vegetables, lots of small dishes (appetizers) and the use of Eggplants in many of their dishes. I just adore eggplants and this love relationship didn't start recently. The reason why I am saying this is that I know many people including my husband who didn't like it as a kid but fill in love with it as an adult. For me it was love from the beginning... :)

One of the eggplants dishes I love is Moussaka. In the Middle East we make lots of versions of Moussaka. The dish is so famous in Egypt and it is called "Misa'aeh" and I think its the integration between the Egyptians and the Greeks at a certain time that made the dish one of the most famous in both countries. In Palestine we make the layers of eggplants, ground lamb and tomato sauce but we call it "Munazaleh"; and we don't add the Bachamel layer..a healthier version if I may say. If you are interested in the Munazaleh recipe, you can visit Darna Magazine for a delicious recipe.

Today, I am sharing with you my Moussaka recipe and it is not light. I do fry the eggplants, but you feel free to grill them for a lighter version.

Directions:
- After sprinkling eggplants with salt, leave for 1/2 an hour so all the water will come out, wipe and fry until golden brown.
- In the mean time prepare the sauce by browning the meat then add the onion and cook till soft. Add spices, salt and pepper.
- Add crushed tomatoes, sugar, tomato paste and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 25 min until sauce is a bit thick.
- Prepare the white sauce by melting the butter, add flour and cook for a couple of min. Add milk, season and whisk until it boils and thickens.
Making the layers"
- In a baking dish line a layer of egg plants, then sauce repeat till you end up with the sauce and add the white sauce and top with cheese.
- Bake at 350 F or 180 C for around 30 min till bubbly with golden color top.
- Serve with bread or rice.

Notes:
- Original Mossaka uses an egg in the white sauce to help thicken and get a smoother sauce, I hate the eggy taste so I don;t use that part.
- You can use a layer of fried Zucchini or potatoes as well if you don't like eggplants only.

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Quince!!! I always heard my mom rave about the jam made out of quince...have I ever tasted it?!!Honestly NO till now...its really good. Did I go and bought quince?! NO!!! We have a tree in the garden and every year this tress has tons of quince on it and boy do they go to waste...Last year was actually good as we asked the gardener to take it. This year it seems he already did but left few fruits on the branches. I came from work the other day and found 6 of them on the floor..I am sure they were ripe so I thought its about time I find out what this tastes like. I gathered them and off to the kitchen.

I opened one and smelled it..hmmmm interesting the smell is between an apple and a pear..delicious..

So that jam that my mom told me about was calling me. I called her up and took the recipe and here you go...

Quince easy jamIngredients:
4 quince fruits, washed to remove all the fury part from the out side, grated with peels on. (it will darken quickly in color as you grate it..faster than apples I found).
2 1/2 cups of water
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 1/2 cups of sugar

Optional: You can add a cinnamon stick or a lemon zest to this.

Directions:

In a large pot, add the grated quince and add water. Bring to a boil along with the lemon juice and reduce the heat and let it get softer for 15 minutes.

Add the sugar and bring to a boil again while stirring to dissolve all the sugar. Simmer over low heat until it thickens for about 1 hour. Put in a sterilized jars while hot and close tightly.

Enjoy in your next Mabrosheh recipe or on toast. My friend told me to try it with a pears pie and I sure will soon and share the recipe with you.

Sunday, September 11, 2016

One of the lovely things about Eid is the lovely goodies we bake and make at home to serve guests. Of course as mentioned in the previous post, the king of sweets in Eid is Ma'moul but because you will find it in every home, people do appreciate being served something different as they go from house to house.

After yesterday's post, a request from a follower was for a Rocky Road bar. I couldn't resist as they are so easy to make and I know I will be a hero among children tomorrow when they come to our house.

There are tons of recipes to make rocky road and honestly I love this recipe as it is prepared in a snap and it has peanut butter in it, what not to like!!!

5 cups rice krispies cereal or chopped plain cookies like Graham crackers or Lotus in case you are using cookie butter.

Variation: Feel free to remove a cup of the rice krispies and add chopped peanuts instead.

Directions:

Mix chocolate chips both kinds and melt in the microwave or over a double boiler. Add peanut butter and stir. Add the rest of the ingredients. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and press the mixture inside. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

I seriously need to do something about this hectic schedule, all goes usually according to plan then some how...just some how something slips and all seems to fall apart!!! I mean it is not always that bad but I have to totally admit that after Ramadan things didn't go back to normal again!!! And we are 2 months after...seriously...I need to pull myself together...So as usual I decided to come here and vent it all out before it eats me alive. In case you don't know what I am talking about, it is the fact that I seem to be neglecting this blog since I decided to go back and work full time, have a business, a magazine, a husband and 3 children once of which is 4 years old!!! Yeah...this is currently my life without any social obligations and boy do I have social obligations to my family, my in laws and friends...LIFE IS GOOD!!!! I need to keep my sanity somehow so I really need to vent...so here I am and thank you for baring with me.

And despite the crazy schedule, I am still cooking, taking pictures and the recipes that are waiting to be blogged about just keep piling up...what a pity!!!

So let me stop the rant and get to reality and say I miss you all and miss writing so very much. And I am glad I get to share the fact that I am only human, not a super woman!! I try to be as organized as I can but as I just mentioned, things don't always work the way we want and you know what...It's OK!!! Cut yourself some slack and just move on, tomorrow is a better day and you can start all over.

So what is happening in your kitchen's these days?!!! Fall is approaching, though with the temperature in Amman these days, it doesn't look like fall is coming any time soon. Yet Eid Al Adha is here and we are quite excited, a 10 days off...WOW...wish I was travelling somewhere but I am not and again its OK!!!

Did you make any special sweets for Eid? How about I remind you of some wonderful ones that are just perfect for your guests this Eid...its going to be next Monday...Eid Mubarak everyone.

These are few example of many on this blog, just go to recipes and under cookies I have around 21 recipes which you can choose from. One of which is the basic sugar cookies

If you want a special twist, just do the shape you want, remove a piece from the middle with another cutter, lay the cookie on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, add crushed candy in the middle and bake. Let it cool off on the baking sheet for few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.